1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
There is known a technique in which a vehicle is maintained in a coasting state by disengaging the clutch disposed between the engine and the transmission of the vehicle when the accelerator is off for the purpose of increasing fuel economy and so on. For example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2011-219087.
However, according to the above conventional technique, the vehicle is returned to the normal running state immediately when it is detected that the vehicle driver has performed a brake operation or an accelerator operation while the vehicle is coasting. Accordingly, it may occur that the vehicle is forcibly returned from the coasting state to the normal running state against the driver's will. In this case, since restoration to the normal running state is made earlier than necessary, fuel economy cannot be increased sufficiently.
In addition, shifting between the normal running state and the coasting state may be made repeatedly depending on the way the vehicle driver performs a brake operation. In this case, there is a concern that vibration occurs in the vehicle due to on/off of the clutch device, causing the vehicle driver or passengers to feel uncomfortable.